demanding of their employees a higher standard of voice and articulation. Periodicals of all sorts, from trade papers to the most intellectual monthly reviews, are pleading for pleasanter voices and clearer pronunciation. The Modern Language Association and the Association of Teachers of Speech are trying to decide upon a phonetic alphabet that all will be willing to accept, by means of which they hope to gain better results in their study of the speech of various parts of the country. Already from California, from Texas, from Maine, requests are coming for a representative meeting (similar to that held in Scotland some years ago) to decide upon a broad, general standard of speech that would be readily intelligible and reasonably acceptable to all parts of the United States.

The time is probably not yet ripe for such a meeting. But meanwhile much can be done by individuals everywhere to increase that interest in speech and that discriminating judgment of speech values which will tend to eliminate extreme localisms. Certain faults-nasality, harshness, ped- . antry, slovenly articulation, drawling, lisping, foreign accent, extremes of pitch-most persons would attempt to get rid of if they once recognized them as defects. Other faults, such as conspicuously provincial sounds, inverted vowels and consonants, and glottal stops, they might be willing to eliminate if they realized the extent to which these defects call attention to manner of speech as distinct from the thought which speech attempts to express.

At its lowest, the speech of educated persons should be perfectly clear and reasonably free from unpleasantness. As to the element of beauty, the authors hope that the desire for that may develop as the work outlined in this book proceeds, and that in the end the student will be content with nothing less than the finest speech of which he is capable.

SUGGESTIONS FOR USE OF THE BOOK

From the fact that there is no universally accepted speech standard in America it follows that teachers of the subject, in order to secure the confidence and coöperation of their students, must avoid any appearance of dogmatism. On the other hand, to allow students to pass through a course in spoken English without making improvement in their speech is obviously going too far in the opposite direction. To avoid these extremes and at the same time to afford students most opportunity for practice in actual speaking, it has been found wise whenever possible to substitute group discussion for the lecture and recitation methods of instruction.

At their first meeting the class may well discuss their reasons for electing a speech course (if the course is required, they may discuss what they can reasonably hope to gain from it). If well conducted, this discussion, together with the reading of the first chapter of the text, should furnish adequate motivation for the work.

It is recommended that the chapter on group discussion be next assigned for reading or study, and that throughout the course an adequate technique for group discussion be gradually built up. At first, and particularly when the subject of discussion is fundamental to an understanding of the work, it will be well for the instructor to act as chairman. When a student is to preside, it is important for the teacher carefully to outline with him the objectives of the meeting and the pitfalls to be avoided.

Next the class may discuss the question of posture, working out further general standards of posture and the application of these standards to their special needs in public and private speaking, in reading, and in acting. The teacher should then give definite exercises for acquiring and maintaining good posture. Thenceforth the class should be held

responsible for the posture of each student who takes part in the recitation.

Similarly, motivation for voice work is established through a discussion of what the students consider a desirable and reasonable voice standard. To save time it is wise to teach such fact material as the preliminary work in physiology and physics by means of lectures, demonstrations, recitations, and quizzes.1 As to methods of voice training, such excellent results are obtained from widely different methods that it would be unwise to insist on the use of any particular one. On one point, however, most good teachers agree—that ear training is essential to sure and rapid progress. Whatever method of ear training the teacher prefers should be begun early and persisted in until all the class can accurately hear their own voices as well as one another's. One or two warnings must be given in regard to voice training. If the method used is that of singing, teacher and student should remember that the object is a speaking rather than a singing voice and should be careful to carry over the improved technique into speech. If the intoning method is largely relied on, care should be taken to avoid acquiring a monotonous quality or a tendency to overprolongation of vowels, which gives a sentimental and affected impression. If poetry is used as material for voice practice, reading in a meaningless singsong should never be allowed.

The study of speech, as of voice, should be motivated by a group discussion. The subject of this should be the standard of speech on which the class can agree and towards which they shall work. This standard once established, the class should be responsible for its maintenance. They should also discuss the value of phonetics as a basis for speech study.

1 In teaching voice production the autophonoscope is very valuable since it gives a clear understanding of the action of the vocal cords and of the effect on tone of ridgidity in the muscles of the tongue, throat, and soft palate, and especially of the larynx.

Teachers should not expect students to undertake the task of analyzing their speech scientifically until they have convinced themselves that the result will be worth the effort. The actual phonetic analysis, if it is adequately motivated and skillfully presented in connection with training, will not prove a burden. The accurate formation of each sound should be taught first and practiced as a voice exercise until the vocal organs gain the habit of forming the sound quickly and surely. It should then be practiced in words, in sentences, and finally in everyday speech. Special care should be given to the practice of vowels without drawling, nasality, or glottal shock.

Since it is not possible to produce a tone without modeling it into some speech sound, every voice exercise must be a speech exercise; and since it is not possible to articulate any sounds (except voiceless consonants, and they are noises) without producing a tone, each speech exercise must also be a voice exercise. Except nonsense syllables, all speech sounds convey thought: hence the problem of expression also must be constantly taken into consideration.

The material on synthesis of sounds is not at all formidable provided the general laws have been explained one at a time as they have come up in phonetic transcription. As to the amount of time that should be spent on the writing and reading of phonetics, each teacher will decide for himself. The authors have found that this practice is one of the quickest and surest ways of teaching a class to think in terms of sounds instead of letters and thus to find out how they actually speak. If it is given in small assignments at first and clearly presented, it may be made to seem a new kind of game. The use of phonetic transcriptions is one of the easiest means of gaining the ability to make fine distinctions in sounds and to avoid extremes of pedantry and carelessness. Each teacher will have his own methods of presenting the technique of discussion, debate, public speaking, and reading.

It is hoped that the material here given will be of service. In a fundamental course the emphasis should be on attaining, not a high degree of technical skill in any particular speech art, but a general expertness in the use of the most important tool for social adjustment.

For several reasons it has been necessary to reduce to a minimum certain important divisions of the subject, namely, the (psychological and sociological approach, story-telling, and dramatics.) By teachers who wish to supply such material for themselves, this practice book may be used as the sole text. By others, it may be supplemented by texts which deal with these subjects in greater detail.

The authors frankly recognize that speech as a college study is still in the experimental stage, both in subject matter and in method of approach. They have made, therefore, every effort to avoid the impression of dogmatism in their statements. They would welcome any constructive criticism by teachers, students, and others interested in the advancement of the cause of good speech.

E. A.

J. D.

V. A. S.